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The Id and The Odyssey; Episode 30

The Thinking About Church Episode

The last thing
Rich remembered from the radio before drifting off to sleep was that
rain was expected tomorrow.

He had plans to
keep everything dry on the trip except for himself. He bought rain
gear at a Montgomery Wards store in Keene the day before.

In the morning he
restarted the fire and heated a can of corned beef hash. It was
terribly dry, but the tea helped wash it down. He broke camp, crept
out of the woods, onto the road, and peddled eastward.

It was dark and
remained dark for quite some time. Indeed, it looked as though it was
going to rain.

This was Sunday
and he thought about church. Rich was always uncomfortable in church.
It was not the building itself. He thought of a church as a good
place to meditate and be close to God, but it was the people that
made him uncomfortable. Perhaps it was my own guilt or feelings of
inadequacy, however that’s the way it came out.

Rich recalled a
time going to Sunday School with his cousin. They were about ten. It
was soon after Rich’s sister’s wedding. It was a Lutheran church.
It was much like the Catholic church.

Everybody seemed
to know what they were doing, except Rich. In Sunday school class
they had a roll call. Somehow Rich’s name appeared on the roll. He
didn’t know how, but it did. The teacher called out the names and
everybody responded by saying “here,” or “present.” He knew
what “here” meant, but was not certain what “present” meant.

Rich was nervous
and certainly wanted to impress his new religious brethren so when
his name was called he responded, “I didn‘t know I had to bring
something, but I’ll bring something next week .”

Everyone laughed.
The Sunday school teacher’s brow furled and corrected him. He felt
embarrassed and foolish. He never returned.

Occasionally Rich
strayed into a church at the invitation of a friend. Seldom did he
return. If church was going to make him like the people who attended
there, he was just as well off to stay away.

Rich heard
sermons about the lonely soul in shabby clothing entering the back of
the church and sitting in the last pew. He wondered, “Did it ever
really happen? What would happen? Perhaps today he shall put it to
the test and give the preacher something to preach about for years to
come. How my soul was wayward and I was downtrodden and he lifted me
from the depths of perdition’s evil grip into the hallows and
glories of the sweet holy promised land of religious
pretentiousness.”

Rich was nearly
giddy with the prospect. He had a shot at academia only a few days
ago, now he shall set his sights on religion.

On his way to
Concord he spotted a brick church. It was not cathedral-like, but
more like a ranch style home with a steeple. A sign was draped above
the entrance, “Billy Bopper Evangelist.”

From Kenton Lewis: You Must Read This First To Know What The Heck Goes On Here

This site contains mostly fiction. Currently a novel is posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday entitled Beyond Beyond. It is broken down into short episodes between two and four pages each. Thus, if you enter on anything other than episode 1, it would be good the scroll down to find previous episodes.

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Every post contains 350 to 1,500 words.

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This Is He

Taken shortly after my beheading. I refused to give up coffee. "Not from my cold dead hands!"